How To Copy Files From Mac To External Hard Drive?

Because we have so many files in computer, they are very important to store them safely. People will move files from Mac to other devices or move the files somewhere else on their Mac. Whatever people do, the way of moving files is the same. We just need to do it with more patience. In this article, I want to share you how to copy files from Mac to external hard drive easily.

Many of us face a challenge while copying something from macOS to External Hard Drive because of the file formatting of the USB Disk. In Windows the task is simple. But in macOS, if the format is not correct, you have to change the format of your external hard drive to transfer or copy files. This article will help you to learn how to copy files from Mac to external hard drive.

Changing the File Format of External Hard Drive

In this image, you can see the window of your external hard drive. When you try to move a file or folder from your Mac to the hard drive, it doesn't work. Because the external hard drive's file format is NTFS. Your Mac can not write files to NTFS Disk.

You can check your hard drive file format. For that;

• Go to the get info at the left sidebar of the external hard drive window.
• Click to the option and a new window will pop up.
• Check the file format.

You can see that its file format is NTFS. That’s why you are not able to copy any of your files or folders only by dragging and dropping.

To solve this problem you have to change the file format of your external hard drive. For that;

• Click on Launchpad
• Then, click on the other folder
• On this folder, you will see an option named utility
• Go to Utility

There is another easy way of going to the external hard drive or disk window. For that;

• Click on the search icon at the top right corner of your main screen.
• Now search for Utility and click it.

In the disk utility window, you will find all the connected disk drives with your mac. At the left sidebar of the Disk Utility window, you will see two options: internal and external. Now;

• Click on the disk name under the external option.

This is the USB drive. You can see the storage of the drive. Here the storage is fully empty.  With this step, you will lose all the files on your external hard drive. So you must copy it to another device and then do the task. Now;

• At the top bar of the window, click on Erase button and a new window will pop up
• Click on the Format button.
• Select ExFat format.
• Press the Erase Button and the process is complete.
• Click on the done button.
• Close the window and try to transfer your file and folder.

Now, you can easily drag and drop your desired files or folders from your Mac to the External Hard Drive. You can also choose FAT file format instead of ExFAT. Here, ExFAT is recommended.

Using Command Line

You can also use the command line for copying your files or folders. You can use the shortcut 'Control + Option+ Shift+ T to open the terminal. Now;

• Write the command cp -R Documents /usb

Here, the –R parameter will copy all subdirectories related to the documents of your computer and transfer them to your External Hard Drive.

Summary: Copy Files from Mac to External Hard Drive

• Connect your external hard drive to Mac.
• Backup files from Mac on a regular basic.
• Select the data to be copied from Mac to external hard drive.
• Copy files from Mac to external hard drive.